Packaging bag



April 22, 1969 v P. KUHNLE PACKAGING BAG Filed Nov. 8, 1967 /NVE/ W'OR PAUL KUHNLE ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,439,866 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 3,439,866 PACKAGING BAG Paul Kiihnle, Winnenden, Wurttemberg, Germany, assignor to Fr. Hesser Maschinenfabrik, A.G., Stuttgart- Bad Cannstatt, Germany, a corporation Filed Nov. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 681,422 Int. Cl. B65d 33/16, 31/12, 27/00 US. Cl. 229-62 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A packaging bag having a flat, folded, neck portion which is sealed proximate to the plane defined by the top level of the packaged material and in which the sidewall panels extending beyond said plane and above the seam form an inside pocket to receive brochures, or the like. The neck is either folded one or more times and then adhesively attached either against itself or to a side panel located below the seam; or the pocket is closed by means of a detachable strip telescoped in U-shaped form over the terminal end of the panels.

This invention relates generally to a package and, more particularly, to a bag having a top closure for receiving and retaining brochures such as recipes, coupons, or other sheet-like material.

In the prior art it is well known to place coupons into and on top of filled goods which are contained within the bag. The bag is then closed in a conventional manner. It is well known however, that contact between the filled goods, or the packaged material, is frequently undesirable for such contact may contaminate the packaged material or cause the sheet-like, and usually printed, enclosure to be coated in an undesirable manner. Moreover, during shipment of the package, the brochures have the tendency to become submerged within the packaged product and locating the brochure, as long as the package is still full, can be a messy or troublesome effort.

In order to overcome the aforementioned difficulties and disadvantages, United States Patent 3,295,744 already teaches a modification of the prior approach. Herein, the upper neck of the bag is folded flat and an adhesive closure strip, in U-shaped form is sealingly placed over the closure panels with open face ends of the strip extending sideways beyond the bag. The sheet-like material is secured to one of the ends of the sealing strip and thereafter turned against a panel. The sheet-like material is then folded, one or more times, together with the flat neck. The resulting top closure portion of the bag is folded at its base and placed against and secured to other parts of the bag. Alternatively, the panels are first folded, then sealed by a tear strip which also secures the sheet against and onto one of the panels.

While the arrangement described in the aforementioned patent eliminates the contact between the brochure and the packaged material and also arranges the brochure in a location which is readily accessible, this construction does, however, necessitate a number of working steps which are difficult to carry out by means of high speed production equipment.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a top closure bag construction which eliminates contact between the packaged product and the brochure, which enables easy accessibility to the brochure and which can be readily produced by conventional high speed production equipment.

It is another object of this invention to provide a simplified bag closure construction in which the top seal of the bag is independent of and unconnected with the placing or securing of the brochure into the bag.

One aspect of the present invention resides in the provision of a packaging bag which has a top closure portion adapted for receiving sheet-like brochures such as coupons or the like. The bag has side wall panels which protrude beyond the top level of the packaged material within the bag with the panels forming a folded, fiat neck. The neck is provided with a closure seam which extends parallel to the folded line, above the aforementioned top level but remote from the terminal and open end. The closure seam is effective to sealingly connect the panels so that the panels form an inside pocket between the seam and the terminal end for receiving the brochures.

Another aspect of the invention resides in the provision of a packaging bag which has a top closure portion adapted for receiving sheet-like brochures such as coupons or the like, and in which the wall panels defining said bag protrude beyond the top level of the packaged material within the bag and form a flat neck. A closure seam is located in the neck portion of the bag between the panels above the aforementioned top level, but remote from the terminal end of the wall panels. The seam is effective to sealingly connect the panels so that the panels form an inside pocket between the seam and the terminal end for receiving the brochures. A readily detachable tear strip, in U-shaped form, is telescoped over the terminal end of the panels to close the pocket opening.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is bad to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of an upper portion of a bag made in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the bag in an intermediate stage of assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the bag showing a modification of the invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing a further modification of the top closure bag construction.

Referring now to FIGURES l to 3 there is shown an upper portion of a bag 1 composed of vertically extending wall panels 2 and 3 which, above the top horizontally planar level 10 of the packaged product are folded, in a conventional manner, to form a top closure for the bag.

The closure, as shown in FIGURE 1, has horizontal extensions 2a and 3a of panels 2 and 3, respectively, located above and generally coplanar with the top plane of the packaged product. The panels 3a converge in equal length towards each other and at their junction, see foldline 11, they are folded vertically, see panels 312, and extend parallel upward. The panels 2a are then conventionally folded inwardly at the foldline 11, and the resultirig side panels 4 extend vertically forming together with panels 3b a complete enclosure which is herein also referred to as a flat neck 6.

The neck 6 is located above the horizontal plane 10 and at its lower extremity is provided with an inner, circumferential closure seam 5 sealingly connecting all of the panels composing the neck 6 to prevent leakage out of the bag 1. The seam may be made in a number of ways depending largely upon the material construction of the bag. For example, the inside face of panels 3b and 4 are coated with an adhesive layer, or are composed of a thermoplastic material, to which heat and pressure is applied to bond the various parts together. Upon cooling, the seam 5 completely closes the bag. It is obvious, of

course, that adhesive materials may be used which respond sufliciently to pressure only.

With the neck 6 thus completely closed at its lower extremity, the inside space of the neck from said extremity to the terminal end forms a pocket 7 which receives a sheet-like brochure 8, such as a coupon, which is inserted into the pocket 7 by means of known conveyor equipment.

Subsequent to placing the coupon 8 into pocket 7, the upper part of the neck 6 is folded 180 degrees about midway of the neck, see FIGURE 2; a number of point-like deposits of adhesive material 9 are then placed upon the outer face of the turned portion and upon the panel 3b facing the turned portion. The folded neck is then folded about foldline 11 against the panel 3b containing deposits 9 and pressed thereagainst for a sufiiciently long period of time until a good bond is established.

While point-like deposits 9 are illustrated herein, it will be appreciated, that deposits of different configurations may be used including an adhesive strip. The selection Will largely depend upon the size of the bag and the type of packaging material. The prime objective in each case being that the turned neck 6 of bag 1 is securely attached so that the same will not detach during handling and transportation, while at the same time the consumer must be able to readily sever the bond so that the coupon 8 may be removed out of the pocket 7.

Referring now specifically to FIGURE 3, there is shown a modified way of folding and securing the neck 6. Herein the uppermost /3 portion (approximately) of the neck 6 is folded 180 degrees against itself, then the next A; portion (approximately) of the neck together with the first third is folded 180 degrees thereby establishing a configuration as shown in the drawing. The upper /3 is then secured to the bottom /3 of the neck 6 by means of adhesive deposits 9'.

FIGURE 4 illustrates another modification for closing the pocket 7. A readily detachable, U-shaped lock 10, or an adhesive strip, which, in either case, can be readily removed, is telescoped over the terminal ends of the panels to close the pocket opening 7.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein Without departing from the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A packaging bag having a top closure portion adapted for receiving sheet-like brochures such as coupons or the like, comprising: wall panels protruding beyond the top level of the packaged material within the bag, said panels forming a folded, flat neck; a closure seam formed on said panels, above said top level, but remote from the terminal and open end of the wall panels, effective to sealingly connect said panels, said panels forming a hollow enclosure between said seam and said terminal end for loosely confining a brochure therein.

2. A packaging bag according to claim 1, wherein said neck including said pocket is folded inwardly against itself, at least once, 180 degrees.

3. A packaging bag according to claim 2, wherein said neck is folded against a lower portion of one of said panels located below said seam line and lying in a plane nearly parallel to the plane defined by the top level of the packaged material; the folded portion of said panel being detachably fastened to the lower portion side panel.

4. A packaging bag according to claim 2, wherein said neck is folded at least twice 180 degrees and the resulting inside fold is detachably fastened against that portion of the neck having said closure seam.

5. A packaging bag according to claim 3, wherein the said fastening between panels is by means of point-like adhesive deposits on one of said panels.

6. A packaging bag according to claim 3, wherein the said fastening between paenls is by means of strip-like adhesive deposits on one of said panels.

7. A packaging bag according to claim 4, wherein the said fastening between panels is by means of point-like adhesive deposits on one of said panels.

8. A packaging bag according to claim 4, wherein the said fastening between panels is by means of strip-like adhesive deposits on one of said panels.

9. A packaging bag having a top closure portion adapted for receiving sheet-like brochures such as coupons or the like, comprising: wall panels protruding beyond the top level of the packaged material within the bag and forming a fiat neck; a closure seam formed on said panels within said neck, above said top level, but remote from the terminal end of the wall panels and effective to sealingly connect said panels, said panels forming a hollow enclosure between said seam and said terminal end for receiving a brochure; and a readily detachable tear strip telescoped in U-shaped form over the terminal end of said panels to close the opening of the enclosure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,867,372 l/1959 Fox 229-56 3,245,607 4/1966 Kelson 229-62 3,348,759 10/1967 Johnson 22953 FOREIGN PATENTS 491,682 9/1938 Great Britain. 552,804 4/1963 Great Britain.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

